


Children of War

by 0bviousLeigh



Series: Children of War [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Family Feels, Multi, Post-Canon, Speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-27
Updated: 2016-08-27
Packaged: 2018-08-11 10:57:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7888576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bviousLeigh/pseuds/0bviousLeigh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The war may be over, but it doesn’t change the fact that now people are aware that four dimensions exist, one of which needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and one of which is full of broken children who were coerced into committing horrors.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Children of War

**Author's Note:**

> This whole thing started because I imagined Serena adopting a snake and calling it her little therapy noodle. Now it's evolving into sooooo much more than that.
> 
> Warning for Serena mentioning the bug in her ear. That thing is CREEPY.

The war is over.

The words ring in the air, they echo around the streets as people take up the cry. An impromptu party begins outside the LDS Tower, complete with music and confetti. The standard world duelists who have been freed from their card prisons are at the center of the celebration, as are the Lancers.

Serena hangs back from the action. She doesn’t understand why these people are so happy. Okay, she does, but she thinks they’re going overboard. The war may be over, but it doesn’t change the fact that now people are aware that four dimensions exist, one of which needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and one of which is full of broken children who were coerced into committing horrors.

“Ridiculous, isn’t it?” Yuri asks.

Serena turns to look at him. He’s standing a few feet away, arms over his chest, false bravado written on his face. His cape and jacket are gone, and he looks smaller without them. His eyes are haunted.

“What do we do now?” Serena asks.

Yuri shrugs. “Your guess is as good as mine. The only home we have is Academia, and I don’t know about you but I’m…not sure I want to go back there.”

Serena shudders as she remembers being strapped down in a chair while the doctor let something crawl into her ear. She rubs the side of her head. “No, I’m not going back there.”

The two of them stand in silence for a few minutes, until they’re approached by Yuzu and Yuya.

“Reiji’s inviting us into the tower,” Yuya says. “He’s got food.”

Serena snorts. “We saved four worlds and he’s just giving us food?”

Yuzu shakes her head. “Not likely, this is Reiji we’re talking about. He never has only one thing on his mind.”

Yuri eyes Shun, Yuto, and Yugo as they stand a few yards away. “Maybe I’ll stay here.”

Yuya holds out his hand. “C’mon, you were as much a part of this as we were.”

Serena remembers Yuri’s cry of anguish as the Professor pushed him away, calling him just as worthless as Yuya. She remembers the fury on Yuri’s face as he joined Yuya’s duel against the Professor, the way he looked when he used his own cards to allow Yuya to fuse Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon with Starve Venom Dragon. That dragon was everything to Yuri, Serena can only imagine what it cost him to let Yuya use it. But not everyone understands the implications behind it. Serena isn’t too sure that she’s welcome, either.

“I’ll tell you what,” Yuya says, “If anyone has a problem with it, they can direct all complaints through me, first.”

“That’s not much of a threat,” Yuri says, but he takes Yuya’s hand.

“You coming, too?” Yuzu asks Serena.

Serena shrugs. “I am kind of hungry.”

They squeeze past the celebrations, into the tower where they meet up with the rest of their team, and they all bundle into the elevator. Shun, Ruri, Yuto, Yugo, Yuya, Yuzu, Rin, Shingo, Sora, Nobaru, Tsukikage, Hikage, Dennis, Serena, and Yuri. Yuri squishes himself in a corner and Serena keeps her arms locked at her sides, lest anyone touch her. Upon arriving at the top floor of the tower, the doors open and Serena smells something utterly delicious.

“What is that?” She mutters as the huge group files out of the elevator.

“It’s pizza,” Yuzu says.

“What’s pizza?” Serena asks.

Yuzu and Yuya both look shocked, but before they can answer they are both swept into bear hugs by their parents. Serena sidesteps the reunion and stares at a table laden with cardboard boxes. She’s not the only one approaching with trepidation—Rin and Yugo look like they’re waiting to be chased away. Serena looks over her shoulder at Yuzu. She’s talking to her dad, and they’re smiling at each other, hands clasped tightly. Serena looks away and swallows down a lump in her throat. She’s sure Yuzu will hate her if she interrupts her reunion with her father.

Shingo brushes past Serena and opens one of the boxes. “Someone tell me there’s sausage and peperoni in here somewhere.” He goes down the line, flinging all the boxes open, until he finally lets out a shout of delight.

“What the heck is this stuff?” Serena asks.

Shingo gives her a wide-eyed look. “Don’t tell me they didn’t have pizza in the fusion dimension.”

“We didn’t have much of anything,” says Sora. He smiles at Serena and Yuri, and hands them plates made of paper. “It’s good, I promise.”

Some of the pizzas are covered with meat, some with vegetables, and some just have cheese. It looks greasy, but it smells wonderful. Serena takes a cheese-covered slice, balances it over the weak plate, and takes a hesitant bite.

“Oh, my god,” She gasps. She stares wide-eyed at Yuri, Rin, and Yugo. “It’s amazing.”

The three of them pick slices from the same pizza as Serena. Soon the four of them are devouring slice after slice.

Sora pops up at Serena’s elbow, holding out a bright red can. “This is soda,” he says. “It’s bubbly and sweet, it goes really well with pizza and it comes in all kinds of flavors.”

Serena puts her plate aside and accepts the can. She drinks from it and lets out a muffled cry of surprise. It takes a few seconds for her to swallow the drink, and when she does she can almost feel it fizzling in her nose. “What the heck?!” She whines.

Sora laughs. “It’s funny, isn’t it?”

Serena thinks she’ll just stick to water. She hands the can to Yuri and tells him to try it. Yuri takes half a sip and chokes, nearly dropping the can.

“They didn’t have soda, either?!” Shingo asks. “Wow, you guys have a lot to catch up on.”

“Indeed they do, Shingo,” says Reiji.

Everyone turns to look at Reiji. He’s coming down the winding staircase, Reira trailing behind him. Reiji approaches Serena, Yuri, Rin, and Yugo. “You four are, I imagine, a bit overwhelmed by all this.”

Rin and Yugo look like a pair of deer caught in car headlights. Yuri narrows his eyes at Reiji, but he’s got a smudge of pizza sauce on his face and he doesn’t look half as threatening as he probably wants to.

“A bit,” Serena says, lifting her head.

Reiji turns to Shun, Ruri, and Yuto and beckons them over. Sora tries to slink away, but Reiji catches his shoulder.

“You lot,” he says, “Are orphans, are you not?”

Shun scowls.

Reiji holds up his hands. “No offense intended. But since you are orphans and homeless on top of that, I am setting up trust funds for all of you.”

Serena gapes. “Come again?”

“Actually,” Reiji says, “I am setting up trust funds for all the lancers. Yes, you too, Shingo, though certainly you won’t receive as much as this group before me.”

“Eh, whatever,” Shingo mutters.

Reiji looks around the room. “The money I am giving you all is to be used for your education, and for any medical or psychological treatment you require.” He looks between the interdimensional group in front of himself. “And for you all, it will be used to cover housing expenses as well.”

“NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE,” Shuzo cries from across the room. Serena turns to look at him as he marches over. “Reiji, you can’t mean that you’re just sending these children off to where they came from! Yuzu was just telling me that half their worlds are in turmoil! And they’re too young to be on their own!”

Reiji shrugs. “It’s not up to me to tell any of them where to live, now. I’m not their guardian.”

“Then I volunteer to be!” Shuzo says.

“As do we,” Yuya’s mother says, stepping forward with Yusho Sakaki. “I can’t stand the thought of them not having a family.”

“You mean for us to stay here, then?” Shun asks, “In the standard dimension? I have been dying to return to Heartland for years.”

Yusho nods. “Yes, but can you expect to find help there?” He looks at Ruri and Yuto. “And can your friends receive counseling in that world?”

“We’ll be fine,” Shun says.

Ruri stomps on his foot. “No we won’t,” she says. “Think for a minute, will you?”

“I am thinking,” Shun says, wincing as he holds his foot off the ground, “I’m thinking that I already have a family and it’s back home.”

“In a torn down world,” Ruri says. She turns to Yusho. “Would we be able to stay with you just until Heartland is rebuilt?”

“Of course,” Yusho says. “I don’t presume to keep any of you from returning to your dimensions eventually. But you have all been subjected to some horrible things, things which you can’t recover from overnight. If you stay here, in standard, you can get help.”

“And how does that make you different from the Professor?” Yuri demands.

There’s a gasp from somewhere in the room. Yuri keeps his head up and stares Yusho down. “What I am hearing is that you want us examined and medicated until we’re easier to handle.”

Serena has to agree with that, and as she looks around she sees that she’s not the only one who agrees with Yuri.

Yuya speaks up. “That’s not what my dad means at all,” he says. He walks over to Yuri, and Yugo, and Yuto. “Look at us. Look at what we went through, the four of us. We’ve shared a mind. The way I see it, we might as well be family already. If you’re all anything like me, you can’t sleep at night until you’ve pinched yourself a dozen times to make sure you’re not already trapped in a nightmare, or until you’ve checked on everyone you love to make sure they’re still with you. Or maybe you can’t sleep at all because your dreams are eating you alive. That’s not the way you should be living. No one deserves to live that way.”

“Yuya’s right,” Yuzu says. “Whatever happened to us, it’s not in the past, it’s going to stay with us and affect us forever. We can let it consume us or we can find a way to deal with it. Can you heal by yourselves? Haven’t we proven over and over that we’re stronger together?”

Serena looks at her feet. She feels someone touch her hand and she looks up into Yuzu’s face. “I was talking with my dad just now,” she says. She looks over at Ruri and Rin. “I asked him if he would allow me to invite you to come live with us.” She shoots her dad an annoyed look. “I was going to do it later, and privately.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie!” Her dad cries, his eyes full of tears, “I just can’t stand to think of all these kids with no home to return to, all of them really but especially when some of them look so much like my baby girl.” He bursts into tears.

“Dad,” Yuzu whines, but she’s on the verge of tears, too.

Rin and Yugo both start to cry. Rin rushes forward and hugs Yuzu tightly, sobbing on her shoulder. Yuzu lets go of Serena’s hand and pats Rin’s back. Yugo rubs his eyes and tries to keep himself together, but Yuya’s mother goes to him and puts her hand on his shoulder, and he falls to pieces.

“What the heck?” Yuri asks.

Yuya nudges his arm. “Sometimes people cry when they’re happy.”

“Ridiculous,” Yuri mutters.

Yuya pokes his cheek. “Don’t smile, Yuri. Don’t smile, Yuri. Don’t do it, don’t smile, Yuri…”

“I’m not!” Yuri says, but he’s lying.

Yuya’s mother hugs Sora and says she’d be glad to have someone who appreciates her cooking as much as he does. Across the room, Ruri is jumping up and down in front of Shun.

“Please, please, please!” She cries, “You know I’ve always wanted a sister!” Yuto watches her and smiles at Shun like he already knows that Shun is going to cave at any minute.

Serena can’t stand it anymore. She starts to walk away, not that she can go very far, and she ends up at one of the huge windows. She sits on the floor, her knees drawn up to her chest. Her chest aches, right where her heart is, and she wonders if she’s having a heart attack. After all, it’s medically impossible for hearts to break. She has no idea how long she sits there for, alone in her thoughts, but after a while Yuzu sits next to her.

“I meant it,” Yuzu says. “I want you to stay with us.”

Serena closes her eyes. “I’m not you.”

“I know you’re not,” Yuzu says. “And so does my dad.”

Serena sniffles. “What if I can’t…be normal?”

“What is normal?” Yuzu asks. “There’s no such thing as normal. All I want is for you to be able to go one day without grabbing your ear, or waking up screaming in the middle of the night and hurting yourself.”

After the bug crawled out of Serena’s head, she had nightmares about it every single night and woke up scratching at her ear, and she’d go on until she bled or someone wrestled her hand away from her head. It got so bad that Yuzu started sleeping with her at night, so she could be ready to stop Serena from hurting herself. Even then, Yuzu had lulled Serena back to sleep with talk of having Serena come live with her after the war was over. But Serena had, perhaps somewhat selfishly, assumed that Yuzu just meant the offer for her alone.

Yuzu puts her hand on Serena’s arm. “You don’t have to decide right now. But would you at least consider staying for a few days? Just until we can get everything settled with Reiji and figure out how this whole trust fund thing would work if you do go back to the fusion dimension.”

It’s a reasonable enough request, and if Serena is honest with herself, it does make sense. So she takes a deep breath and nods. “Yes, I’ll do that.”

Yuzu smiles and helps Serena to her feet. Together they walk back to the group, all of whom are now talking amongst themselves about the finer points of their new housing arrangements. Yuzu takes Serena to Rin and Ruri.

“Serena’s going to hold off on making a final decision,” she says, “But she’s going to stay for a few days at least.”

Ruri smiles brightly and holds out her hand to Serena, and she takes it.

“This is going to be amazing,” Ruri says. “And it sounds like it’s going to be us three and Shun staying with Yuzu. Shun’s going to be beside himself, he’s never been surrounded by so many girls before.”

Rin looks over her shoulder at Yugo and says, “Yeah, and Yugo’s never been surrounded by just boys before.”

“Are you going to be okay staying away from him?” Ruri asks.

“We don’t live that far from Yuya,” Yuzu says, “So you can see him whenever you want, Rin.”

“It’ll be okay,” Rin says. “We haven’t actually lived together in a long time.” Guilt flashes across her face. “And maybe it’s for the best.”

Ruri puts her arm around Rin’s shoulders. “It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t any of our faults. We were all taken advantage of.”

The four of them stand together, shoulder to shoulder, and for the first time in her life, Serena feels a true sense of solidarity. She’s never had this feeling with anyone from Academia, not even Yuri. Maybe there’s something to this whole ‘sticking together’ thing.

Shuzo approaches the girls, Shun behind him.

“Ready to go, kiddos?” He asks. “I think what you all need now is a change of clothes, a shower, and some rest.”

“Are you saying that we smell?” Yuzu asks, her arms folded across her chest.

“Yes,” Shuzo says. “You all smell. You smell like teenagers who saved the world.”

Shun rolls his eyes, and Ruri links her arm with his. “I vote we make Shun sleep on the couch.”

Shun sputters, and Yuzu laughs. “We’ll figure something out.”

“That we will!” Shuzo cries. “I don’t care what it takes, I’ll build an extension on the house with my bare hands, you will all have a place to call your own, I swear it!”

“Stop yelling!” Yuzu yells.

Shuzo bursts into tears again. “So many new kids, maybe one of them will finally be nice to me!”

As they all walk out of the building together, Serena realizes that her chest no longer aches. In fact, there’s a feeling of lightness flooding through her. Serena wonders if it’s hope.

**Author's Note:**

> I just really want Shuzo to see all the bracelet girls and scream "THREE NEW DAUGHTERS THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE"


End file.
